Lifespan
by Amberdiamondswords
Summary: It had never came across Clank's mind the difference in a robot's and organic's lifespan. Robots seemed to live a lot longer than organics. So what does that mean for him and Ratchet?


**Weekly Oneshot #28: Lifespan**

Clank stood motionless at the window, his arms crossed and resting on the shelf in front of him, and on top of that was his resting chin. His brilliant green eyes stared at the sky, reflecting the blues, purples and stars that laid in it, almost making it look like that the entire sky or perhaps the entire galaxy was in his eyes. However, he was not looking at the sky for it's beauty. In fact, he didn't have the intention of looking at anything. He was too deep in thought to think of anything that was going on outside.

What he was thinking about only remained to him. It was something that he had never explored in his mind before. Though there were many things that he had yet to explore in his young mind, this one seemed to stand out from everything he had ever processed so far in his short life. And he found himself feeling a bit somber simply thinking about it. The more that he expanded on it, the more of a metaphorically sour taste was left in his mouth. He was so concentrated on it that he seemed to forget the world around him, and didn't notice the figure creeping up behind him.

"...BZZT!" Ratchet crouched down and did the taser trick with his fingers on Clank, making the robot yelp and jump, as well as grab his sides. The Lombax nearly nearly lost balance as he laughed fairly hard. "Ahahah! I swear, you jump every time! And every time it's so dang funny! Hahaha! Haha...aha...ahh..."

"Mm," was all that Clank responded with, and he resumed his position.

Ratchet's laughter quickly wore off, as well as his cheerful expression. He raised an eyebrow as he lightly placed a hand on his friend's shoulder, "Hey, are you alright? You usually hate it when I taser you..."

Clank stood there in silence for a few moments, keeping his eyes out the window. A question had been rising up in the warbot all day, but he wondered if it was appropriate to ask it? He seemed to have trouble when it came to asking appropriate questions because he didn't know what was right to ask and what was wrong. It was a downside of being a young robot in the universe. However, it wasn't like it was really a personal question. And even if Ratchet does take offense, he would most likely understand since the robot was still young.

So, the robot turned his head and looked up at Ratchet, who was looking quite concerned about him. "Ratchet...what is the average lifespan of a Lombax?"

"Average lifespan? I dunno," Ratchet said, scratching his head. "I don't know much about my species, so I really can't tell you. It's long, I'm guessing. Why are you asking me?"

"Well...I have been doing some thinking lately. Thinking about robots and organics and the differences in their lifespans," Clank said, putting his attention back out the window. "I am a fairly curious robot and wanted to look into species lifespans. A Fongoid's, a Markazian's, an Argorian's, all of them have different lifespans, but I could not find anything about Lombaxes. I then found myself over on robot lifespans. And they prone to live much longer than any organic species."

"Well yeah, robots' bodies are different than organic's, so we're bound to have different lifespans."

"Yes, well, that led me to do some more thinking. And it came around to how I am a robot and you are an organic. Our lifespans are no doubt much different. And, because of our different anatomy, and because of my lack of proper aging, you...you um...you will most likely...pass on before I do. And I will be forced to go on without you one day. That is what has me so distracted, it is that thought. For some reason it...frightens me. Frightens me in a way that I have never been frightened before. I simply cannot understand it."

Ratchet's ears lowered ever so slightly and he frowned. This was actually something that he knew that Clank would realize one day, he just didn't think that he would have realized it this early in his life. He was scared for Ratchet. Scared for the day that he moved on and left the little robot alone in the world. Just thinking about that made shivers go down Ratchet's spine. It really was a scary thought. And it was a major burden for robot who decided to make friends with organics instead of other robots. And it looked like that Clank would have to face that major burden some day.

However, though the thought of their different lifespans was scary, Ratchet didn't want Clank to focus on that. Not at all. He sighed and placed a hand on his friend's head, rubbing it gently as to help ease him. "Look, Clank, I know that we have different lifespans, and that I'll probably...move on...before you do. But why are we focusing on that? Why are we focusing on when we die and when we'll be split apart? That's just stupid. Everyone goes through this in their lifetime, but you know why they don't stress about it?"

"Why?"

"Because they focus on what's happening now. And right now, I'm nowhere close to being dead. I'm young, healthy, and have a long road ahead of me. You don't have to worry about me dying for a long time, pal, trust me. And, even when I do pass, in the end of everything, we'll still end up together, right?"

Ratchet held out a fist and gave a friendly smile to his worried friend, who looked up at him with surprise. He was absolutely right. Though they would have to say goodbye at some point in their lives, they still had their time together now to spend. And they should enjoy it for as long as they could. Clank added that to the things that he should process and happily fist bumped Ratchet. He then smiled, feeling a bit more confident with Ratchet's words. But now he had something else to take care of with the Lombax.

"Thank you for your words, Ratchet," Clank said with a nod. He then gave a small glance out the window before moving aside, "By the way, I believe that I saw two Heliogrubs fighting outside. And I know how much you enjoy watching that."

"Yeah, that's always entertaining!" Ratchet said with enthusiasm, scooting over to the window and looking outside, putting his back to Clank. He looked around frantically for the brawling Heliogrubs, hoping that he hadn't missed the fight. His excitement died down a little, "Hey, Clank, I can't find them. Are you sure that they were fighting? Because I don't see anything-"

"BZZT!" Clank smiled mischievously as he took two fingers on each hand and jabbed them into Ratchet's sides, making the Lombax jump and yelp like the robot had earlier. And, for effect, he sent the tiniest little jolt through his fingers, giving Ratchet an actual little zap. He yelped again and nearly fell onto his side. Clank smiled again and folded his arms, "That was for earlier. Quite shocking, is it not? Hehehehe!"

"Why you little-come here!"

Ratchet gathered himself and then pounced on Clank, sending both of them back to the floor. The Lombax pinned the warbot and proceeded to flick his antenna and the spot between his eyes. This usually annoyed the living daylights out of Clank, and he wanted to be annoyed, but he was laughing. They both were.

* * *

 **Double weekly oneshot! Yaay!**

 **I love writing fun yet emotional oneshots. It gives people something to feel about and bring a somber feeling to the reader, but then the ending uplifts them as the two characters have some fun together. Always a fun thing to write.**

 **Make sure to leave a review while picking up your complimentary toaster!**

 **This is Amberdiamondswords, Lordess of Diamond Swordness, signing off!**


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